There are many reasons, but a main one is money laundering. I'm an relatively big online poker player and I can tell you that many of the online casinos are very shady operations. Not all, but a good deal.
To launder money, you need to keep it out of the financial system that is the US banking network. Have a bank account? Credit card? Debit card? Took out a loan? When the IRS comes to audit you, they have immediate and full access to all of this. So if Mr. White sells a ten-kilos of cocaine to Mr. Pink and wires $100,000 to his bank account, that's going to show up on the IRS' radar.
However, let's say Mr. White sits down at an online gambling table and 'loses' $100,000 to Mr. Pink. That transaction is stored in the private database of an off-shore casino and is out of the eye of the IRS and the US Government. Washing the money after you withdraw from the casino involves more processes, but the most important thing is that money does not go through the proper, established channels, and the government does not like this.
I think the saying went: You can cheat the people as long as you remember to pay your taxes.
Lastly, I hope they go the route of regulation instead of outright banning.. otherwise my website is moot.
--
MJ
(actually wrote this for an earlier post, but still relevant and everoyne hates 'go to this link' replies)
What you described is a common strategy known as the 'Nightengale' betting system. It was developed back in the day of early gambling (think Greeks) where the concept was to double-up your bet each time to cover your losses.
There have been exhausting mathematically simulations that show how this betting system works and the results are interesting. Whereas random roulette betting will have each player loosing a little bit of money, under the nightengale system, most players win a bit of money while a few players loose a LOT (read: all).
Like you said, the probability of losing eight times in a row is extreme, but play long enough and the odds will catch up to you.
With all of this said.. I've actually used a deviation of this system myself with success. No, I am not going to sell you a book now, but I am going to say that with some creative thinking, a bankroll and a willingness for risk, you can maximize your chances for winning. The only trick is that you must resolve never to make more than six bets on this system for the duration of your entire life. The principle is to stay away from long-term predictability by hedging on short-term variance, then quitting.. forever.
And if that doesn't rub you right, I recommend learning poker (my poker guide website).
--
MJ
There are many reasons, but a main one is money laundering. I'm an relatively big online poker player and I can tell you that many of the online casinos are very shady operations. Not all, but a good deal.
To launder money, you need to keep it out of the financial system that is the US banking network. Have a bank account? Credit card? Debit card? Took out a loan? When the IRS comes to audit you, they have immediate and full access to all of this. So if Mr. White sells a ten-kilos of cocaine to Mr. Pink and wires $100,000 to his bank account, that's going to show up on the IRS' radar.
However, let's say Mr. White sits down at an online gambling table and 'loses' $100,000 to Mr. Pink. That transaction is stored in the private database of an off-shore casino and is out of the eye of the IRS and the US Government. Washing the money after you withdraw from the casino involves more processes, but the most important thing is that money does not go through the proper, established channels, and the government does not like this.
I think the saying went: You can cheat the people as long as you remember to pay your taxes.
Lastly, I hope they go the route of regulation instead of outright banning.. otherwise my website is moot.
I'm sorry, but supporting your users only *after* they file a class-action lawsuit against you is nowhere close to the right thing. If Apple and Jobs wanted to do the right thing, maybe I wouldn't be browsing/. while I wait for everyone at the office to leave so I can take down and rebuild our OSX server because the system prefs pane simply vanished. Poof, gone. Maybe I wouldn't have a feeling of dread in my stomach every time a student comes to me and tells me that iMovie has crashed and their semester project will no longer open. Maybe I wouldn't have to train lab assistants in how to use ASR to re-image our OSX stations when they could be helping users with their projects instead. Maybe I wouldn't spend time documenting problems with hugely popular software like iDVD because Apple just isn't saying anything about it.
And lastly, maybe I wouldn't have any basis for my complaining if Apple would simply acknowledge that there are problems and listen to what their own users trying to tell them!
What Apple is doing isn't right, but it's the first step toward correcting a wrong.
Not a personal attack, but I'm assuming you are not a poker player.
At heart, poker is a human game where your ability in the mental martial arts dictate your ability to succeed. That being said however, this purity usually only shows at the highest levels of poker, heads-up (1v1) no limit poker; as showcased in the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
In the average poker game at the local casino or with your buddies on Thursday night, the 'mental game' usually falls along the wayside along with the beer bottles. A main caveat of playing perfect poker is to play as if you could see what everyone else at the table is holding. The better you are able to put a man to his hand (figure out what his/her cards are) the better your play becomes, theoretically speaking. I say theoretically because like it says in the article: "Game-theory models usually assume that every player uses the best possible strategy, something that rarely if ever happens with humans."
Many times, you can have a table filled with players who have no idea what they are doing and betting blindly with an ace high. In this scenario, against a good player holding ace high, you would know to re-raise him even if you were holding garbage, as ace high is not a strong enough hand to call with. Against a weak player, they may even re-raise you back not realizing that they are making a terrible play according to game theory, BUT, a play that happens to actually work in reality. Only in poker can you tell someone that the only reason they won was because they played terrible:)
Anyhow, my example was meant to illustrate that in poker, sometimes you play the person and other times you play for the best hand. Being able to do both and knowing when to mix it up is what separates a true professional from the average player.
Then again, talking is very theoretical too for that matter. But then you have to realize there are many people who make a profit playing online (myself included), so don't take my word for it, look at my stack of chips:grin:.
Slashdot Mirror
Famous last words:
/. reader
:D
"It's very beautiful over there." - Thomas Edison, famed inventor and scientist
"I have tried so hard to do right." - Grover Cleveland, 22nd President of the United States
"Tight budget, yes sir.." - FueledByRamen, avid
--
MJ
There are many reasons, but a main one is money laundering. I'm an relatively big online poker player and I can tell you that many of the online casinos are very shady operations. Not all, but a good deal.
To launder money, you need to keep it out of the financial system that is the US banking network. Have a bank account? Credit card? Debit card? Took out a loan? When the IRS comes to audit you, they have immediate and full access to all of this. So if Mr. White sells a ten-kilos of cocaine to Mr. Pink and wires $100,000 to his bank account, that's going to show up on the IRS' radar.
However, let's say Mr. White sits down at an online gambling table and 'loses' $100,000 to Mr. Pink. That transaction is stored in the private database of an off-shore casino and is out of the eye of the IRS and the US Government. Washing the money after you withdraw from the casino involves more processes, but the most important thing is that money does not go through the proper, established channels, and the government does not like this.
I think the saying went: You can cheat the people as long as you remember to pay your taxes.
Lastly, I hope they go the route of regulation instead of outright banning.. otherwise my website is moot.
--
MJ
(actually wrote this for an earlier post, but still relevant and everoyne hates 'go to this link' replies)
What you described is a common strategy known as the 'Nightengale' betting system. It was developed back in the day of early gambling (think Greeks) where the concept was to double-up your bet each time to cover your losses.
There have been exhausting mathematically simulations that show how this betting system works and the results are interesting. Whereas random roulette betting will have each player loosing a little bit of money, under the nightengale system, most players win a bit of money while a few players loose a LOT (read: all).
Like you said, the probability of losing eight times in a row is extreme, but play long enough and the odds will catch up to you.
With all of this said.. I've actually used a deviation of this system myself with success. No, I am not going to sell you a book now, but I am going to say that with some creative thinking, a bankroll and a willingness for risk, you can maximize your chances for winning. The only trick is that you must resolve never to make more than six bets on this system for the duration of your entire life. The principle is to stay away from long-term predictability by hedging on short-term variance, then quitting.. forever.
And if that doesn't rub you right, I recommend learning poker (my poker guide website).
--
MJ
but why is online gambling illegal?
There are many reasons, but a main one is money laundering. I'm an relatively big online poker player and I can tell you that many of the online casinos are very shady operations. Not all, but a good deal.
To launder money, you need to keep it out of the financial system that is the US banking network. Have a bank account? Credit card? Debit card? Took out a loan? When the IRS comes to audit you, they have immediate and full access to all of this. So if Mr. White sells a ten-kilos of cocaine to Mr. Pink and wires $100,000 to his bank account, that's going to show up on the IRS' radar.
However, let's say Mr. White sits down at an online gambling table and 'loses' $100,000 to Mr. Pink. That transaction is stored in the private database of an off-shore casino and is out of the eye of the IRS and the US Government. Washing the money after you withdraw from the casino involves more processes, but the most important thing is that money does not go through the proper, established channels, and the government does not like this.
I think the saying went: You can cheat the people as long as you remember to pay your taxes.
Lastly, I hope they go the route of regulation instead of outright banning.. otherwise my website is moot.
--
MJ
"Apple's doing the right thing, roughly."
/. while I wait for everyone at the office to leave so I can take down and rebuild our OSX server because the system prefs pane simply vanished. Poof, gone. Maybe I wouldn't have a feeling of dread in my stomach every time a student comes to me and tells me that iMovie has crashed and their semester project will no longer open. Maybe I wouldn't have to train lab assistants in how to use ASR to re-image our OSX stations when they could be helping users with their projects instead. Maybe I wouldn't spend time documenting problems with hugely popular software like iDVD because Apple just isn't saying anything about it.
I'm sorry, but supporting your users only *after* they file a class-action lawsuit against you is nowhere close to the right thing. If Apple and Jobs wanted to do the right thing, maybe I wouldn't be browsing
And lastly, maybe I wouldn't have any basis for my complaining if Apple would simply acknowledge that there are problems and listen to what their own users trying to tell them!
What Apple is doing isn't right, but it's the first step toward correcting a wrong.
www.pokerroom.com
:)
Java client. Play from work
Not a personal attack, but I'm assuming you are not a poker player.
:)
:grin:.
At heart, poker is a human game where your ability in the mental martial arts dictate your ability to succeed. That being said however, this purity usually only shows at the highest levels of poker, heads-up (1v1) no limit poker; as showcased in the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
In the average poker game at the local casino or with your buddies on Thursday night, the 'mental game' usually falls along the wayside along with the beer bottles. A main caveat of playing perfect poker is to play as if you could see what everyone else at the table is holding. The better you are able to put a man to his hand (figure out what his/her cards are) the better your play becomes, theoretically speaking. I say theoretically because like it says in the article: "Game-theory models usually assume that every player uses the best possible strategy, something that rarely if ever happens with humans."
Many times, you can have a table filled with players who have no idea what they are doing and betting blindly with an ace high. In this scenario, against a good player holding ace high, you would know to re-raise him even if you were holding garbage, as ace high is not a strong enough hand to call with. Against a weak player, they may even re-raise you back not realizing that they are making a terrible play according to game theory, BUT, a play that happens to actually work in reality. Only in poker can you tell someone that the only reason they won was because they played terrible
Anyhow, my example was meant to illustrate that in poker, sometimes you play the person and other times you play for the best hand. Being able to do both and knowing when to mix it up is what separates a true professional from the average player.
Then again, talking is very theoretical too for that matter. But then you have to realize there are many people who make a profit playing online (myself included), so don't take my word for it, look at my stack of chips
If anyone is interested, I play at Party Poker.
Good place for beginners and they'll add $25 to your account if you sign up with the code MAGIC.